Western War
The Western War was a large military conflict between the Germanic Reich and France that was the culmination of several decades of national and religious rivalry, but the immediate cause was a German uprising in Alsace-Lorraine that the French brutally suppressed. The French accused the Reich of instigating it and the Reich accused the French of mistreating their people. France declared war on the Germanic Reich on the 23rd of February 2295, and their ally of Hispania agreed to join them if any allies joined the Germanic Reich, which Albion did on the 24th of February, leading to Hispania entering the war on the same day. On the 30th of February, the Italian League also joined France. On the 2nd of March, the United Provinces of the Netherlands joined the Germanic Reich, despite not previously having an alliance. The Nordic Union gave economic aid to the Germanic Reich and a few regiments of volunteers, but did not formally enter the war. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth did the same for France, but refrained from war after the Soviet Union made it clear they would intervene if the Poles joined. The war attracted volunteers from all over Europe, who had reason to hate either side. Foreign volunteers for the Germanic side were generally Protestant and Orthodox Christians, who believed that a French victory would lead to increased Catholic domination over Europe. The motivation for the Protestants was obvious, but for the Orthodox volunteers they favoured a larger Protestant presence as opposed to a Catholic one because they saw the Protestants as less of an immediate threat to their church, and they shared a strong anti-Papist spirit. Foreign volunteers for the French side were generally Catholics who believed that a Germanic victory would lead to the demise of Catholicism. There were many Poles who joined the French side, not only for religious reasons but out of hatred for the Germans. Course of the War The war was mainly divided into five land fronts: * The Rhine Front was fought between Germany and France along their shared border, and saw little movement and large casualties. * The Austrian Front was fought between Germany and the Italians along their shared border. The Germans made significant gains in Venice before being halted and steadily pushed back to Austria, where a stalemate developed. * The Dutch Front was fought between the United Provinces and France along their shared border, which collapsed quickly for the Dutch who only just managed to hold the French at Holland with German and Albionic aid. * The Gibraltar Front was fought between Hispania and Albion in Gibraltar from 2195 to 2197. Albion launched several successful campaigns into Hispania from Gibraltar, forcing them out of the war by 2197, not taking any concessions beyond reparations. This was the only decisive victory of the war. * The Norman Front was fought between Albion and France in Normandy from 2198 to 2199. Albion launched a successful but very costly invasion of Normandy, taking the area but unable to push any further forwards. This coincided with a major German offensive which failed, allowing the French to counterattack and make small breakthroughs in the German lines. By the end of the war, both sides had simultaneously experienced victory and defeat and were exhausted. An armistice was called and eventually a peace treaty was signed in Bern in Switzerland. The war was ultimately inconclusive, with both sides failing to achieve their objectives and agreeing to a white peace on the 14th of January 2199, signing a 20-year truce. The only meaningful outcome of the war was the Germans in Alsace-Lorraine being given significant autonomy in the interest of preventing future uprisings. The United Provinces of the Netherlands and France also exchanged some small pieces of territory, with Dutch-owned French areas going to France and French-owned Dutch areas going to the UPN. The war also saw Europe seemingly permanently settle into two camps, the so-called Catholic Alliance (led by France, including Hispania, the Italian League and the PLC) and the so-called Germanic Alliance (co-led by the Germanic Reich and Albion, with the UPN). The Soviet Union and Nordic Union were sympathetic to the Germanic Alliance but did not join. These alliances became close to each other, agreeing to open their borders and end tariffs with each other. These two new alliances would clash in the Dragon War, which was also inconclusive.